Chapter 186

Ramon POV

“I can’t stay and expect him to heal with me,” I countered. “Romeo, I raped Lake. Do you understand that? I had sex with him when he was fourteen years old. And now every time he looks at me, he’s going to remember that. Every time we’re intimate, he’s going to wonder if I’m thinking about him as a child. How is staying going to help that?”

“Because you love him,” Rhodes said simply. “Ramon, love is how we heal from trauma. Connection, not isolation. You leaving—you running to Barcelona—that’s only going to make things worse for everyone.”

“You don’t know that,” I said.

“Yes, I do,” Rhodes insisted. “Ramon, I’m a trauma specialist. This is literally my area of expertise. And I’m telling you—abandoning Lake right now is the worst possible thing you could do. For him and for you.”

“I don’t matter,” I said. “Only Lake and Ollie matter. And they’re better off without me.”

“That’s not true,” Rafael said. “Brother, Ollie had a complete